Sports Medicine

I'm really liking this so far, which is rare, as I am not normally a fan of series.

But this episode was factually flawed when it came to the science, badly so.

Steroids don't weaken bones, the opposite if anything, and have little to no effect on the kidneys except indirectly if BP is elevated for an extended period.

This was so bad it was borderline propaganda.

Pity.

My review refers to the user nytol1-798-466578 who rejects the effect of steroids on bones and kidneys. Please do your own research and /or ask your doctor. Several steroids have NEGATIVE effects on the bones (making them brittle, easier to brake etc) as well as having shown kidney injuries.

As this review has not enough words to be reviewed as a review I have to write some more words until this review is viewed as a review.

Now I have to write some more, because even this wasn't efficient enough. I liked House when I watched it the first time. Now binge-watching doesn't give me the same feelings.

Exceptional acting on the part of the actress playing the wife of a faded baseball legend makes this episode stand right up there with the very best of the greatest show in TV history, LAW & ORDER. She is by turns sassy and frightened, elated and depressed, and uses a minimum of dialog to express her chaotic feelings. The ending of this episode, involving the athlete standing before death's door, is also a stunner, which is often the case with HOUSE -- but not always. Of course, you'll have to watch it to see what happens because I'm not telling. SPORTS MEDICINE also contains the legendary clinic waiting room scene where House diagnoses several waiting patients in about a minute's time. The guy with the sticking contact lenses is not to be missed, as is House's solution to the man's problem.

I liked this episode as well as the others. But I was also amused by the writer, who knew his literary and movie history. The afflicted pitcher is named 'Hank Wiggen'. He has a very well-known literary namesake. 'Henry Wiggen' was the pitcher-narrator of three excellent baseball novels by Mark Harris. The most well-known of them is 'Bang the Drum Slowly', which was made into a television drama, and then a movie in 1974, starring Michael Moriarity as the pitcher and Robert De Niro (in his debut movie) as an afflicted catcher.

The Wiggen in 'House' is hardly the cynical, insightful observer of the novels, but using the same name is a nice touch.

Everybody can pick out the great episodes of House - "Three Stories", "Pilot", "No Reason" - so I am going to try and point out the "diamonds in the rough." It opens up rather interestingly, complete with a couple gems from Bryan Singer and a shocking change of pace in the episode. I, for one, sure fell for it hard.

I used to watch CSI a lot and I notice a lot of similarities between it and House - foremost an infallible lead character who exercises ample amounts of deductive reasoning power. In the case of House, the sin of plot repetition is forgiven because House gives their characters a lot more shading than in CSI.

Not only does this episode posit the mandatory philosophical dilemma (one that echoes the theme of a future episode, though I must say the future one perfects it), it deepens Dr. House himself. We start seeing a lot more of his outside activities (always a pleasure) and a little of his awkward side. I especially enjoyed the latter.

This episode is a classic that I again stress should not be rushed to but instead approached. Watch the previous 11 chapters before enjoying this one. The impact will be so much more the greater.